Toon should thank Ashley

A close associate of the unpopular Toon owner, who does not wish to be identified, reckons that but for Ashley, Newcastle would be in an even bigger mess.

And the Ashley ally claims that Wigan chairman Dave Whelan’s personal attack on his former business rival is a case of sour grapes because he lost the retail war between the pair.

Ashley and his Cockney mafia are hated on Tyneside but, according to the source, the Toon Army should applaud him.

He said: “Mike has saved the club financially but, clearly, sorting out the football side is taking longer to do.

“It would be interesting to consider what would have happened if he had not bought it, because the business side of it was clearly in financial difficulties.

“Mike went in there to sort out Newcastle. It was in a bad way when he bought it.”

Under predecessor Freddy Shepherd, the Geordies regularly played in Europe and smashed the club transfer record to sign £16m Michael Owen.

Fans initially welcomed Ashley’s buy-out of Shepherd and the Hall family, believing it would herald another spending spree.

But instead, the regime has overseen the walkout of Kevin Keegan, minimal transfer investment plus falling attendances and disastrous results.

Whelan had argued that Ashley had stripped the club of its dignity by wearing his Newcastle top at matches. But Ashley’s pal hit back, saying: “I think Mike feels that wearing a shirt and tie to matches is something that should be confined to the last century.

“He certainly won’t be taking those comments seriously.

“They are old sparring partners. Dave Whelan used to own JJB and is the main competitor of Sports Direct, which has been a lot more successful over the last 10 years.

“So he might be feeling a bit bruised because of that.

“It is no coincidence that the timing of his comments about Mike have reminded everyone he is back in the sports retailing ring.”